Former Victorian Liberals boss fined $40,000 over unlawful election ads

The former boss of the Victorian Liberals will pay $40,000 in fines after he fell foul of electoral advertising laws, undermining voters’ rights, a court has found.

One of the newspaper ads was about sitting Labor MP Libby Coker, while another was a full-page portrait of Liberal candidate for Corangamite Stephanie Asher along with a how-to-vote card. McQuestin admitted to the allegations but fought against paying a fine of up to $150,000, which the Electoral Commissioner argued he should cough up for the “intentional” breach.One of the ads centred around Labor MP Libby Coker.Federal Court Justice Michael Hugh O’Bryan on Tuesday ruled McQuestin should pay a total $40,000 in fines, saying the anti-Coker advertisement in particular was a serious failure of the rules.

The judge said the final days of a campaign may be busy but “the need to protect free and informed voting is not diminished as election day approaches”.

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